Long-lasting effects of unplanned logging on the seed rain of mixed conifer-hardwood forests in southern South America
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Long‑lasting effects of unplanned logging on the seed rain of mixed conifer‑hardwood forests in southern South America Alexandre F. Souza1 · Angela Luciana de Ávila2 · Maristela M. Araújo3 · Solon Jonas Longhi3
Received: 7 May 2020 / Accepted: 26 July 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Understanding the effects of disturbance on seed rain is critical to predict changes in forest species composition and diversity. Logging effects on seed rain in a mixed conifer-hardwood forest complex in southern Brazil were evaluated. One year of seed rain data were collected from a large-scale observational experiment in logged and protected forests and quantity and average seed size weighted by species abundance (CWM) were compared between old-growth and logged stands 55 years after logging activities. Using these data, variations in frequency of functional groups of species in the seed rain were examined to see if they could be attributed to logging. Results show that the number of seeds per trap was highly right-skewed, ranging Project funding: The work was supported by the Brazilian National Council of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq) through the ‘‘ProjetoEcológico de Longa Duração Conservação e Manejo Sustentávelde Ecossistemas Florestais— Bioma Araucária e suas Transições” (1999–2009) and through a Master degree scholarship to Angela Luciana de Avila. The online version is available at https://www.springerlink.com. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-020-01205-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Alexandre F. Souza [email protected] 1
Departament of Ecology, CB, Rio Grande Do Norte Federal University, Central Campus, Lagoa Nova, Natal 59072‑970, RN, Brazil
2
Forest Growth Department, Freiburg Im Breisgau, Baden-Vurtemberga Forest Research Institute, Wonnhaldestraße 4, Freiburg im Breisgau 79104, Germany
3
Forest Engineering Postgraduate Program, Forestry Department, Santa Maria Federal University, Roraima Av., s/n, Camobi, Santa Maria 97105‑900, RS, Brazil
from 13 to 12,788 seeds per trap in one year. Seed rain was affected by logging history, with seed traps in old-growth plots receiving significantly less seeds than traps in logged plots. All species included mean seed size weighted by species abundance were significantly smaller in logged than in old-growth forests. This difference persisted after the exclusion of Araucaria angustifolia, a large-seeded pioneer which was intensively logged, although the difference of seed size between the two forest classes was greatly reduced. Species abundance in the seed rain differed significantly from the established tree community, between logged and oldgrowth stands. The composition of the seed rain was much more variable than the composition of the established tree community and its points more scattered over the ordination space than the points corresponding to the protected forests. The number of collected
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